1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the production of fuel gas by the partial oxidation of hydrocarbonaceous fuels and the burning of said fuel gas in a gas turbine for the production of power.
The production of fuel gas by the partial oxidation of liquid hydrocarbon fuel; controlling the mole ratio (CO/H.sub.2) of the fuel gas by reverse water-gas shifting; cleaning and purifying the fuel gas; and burning the improved stream of fuel gas in a power-developing gas turbine is disclosed in coassigned U.S. Pat. No. 3,868,817. Heating water for use in saturating fuel gas was done by noncontact indirect heat exchange in U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,623. However, neither one of these processes teaches applicants' highly efficient integrated gasification process which includes the steps of (1) cooling the quenched saturated stream of raw fuel gas to below the dew point to condense out water for use in quenching and scrubbing the raw fuel gas, and maximizing the scrubbing water temperature by direct contact of the scrubbing water with the quenched raw fuel gas stream just downstream of a heat exchanger for the production of intermediate pressure steam which is superheated and introduced into an expansion turbine as at least a portion of the working fluid; and, (2) locating the line pressure reducing means prior to heating water for saturation of fuel gas and nitrogen gas and before the full cooling of the raw stream of unpurified fuel gas so as to benefit from the substantial amount of water remaining in the raw fuel gas at this point of the process which provides for heating condensate for scrubbing the raw fuel gas.